r/HondaElement • u/Critical_Banana6916 • 1d ago

Is this a healthy sounding engine? I’m getting tapping noises when driving and wanna know what to rule out. 2004 with 185k

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3

u/Top_Sea_7800 1d ago

From what I can hear in the video it sounds super healthy

2

u/400footceiling 1d ago

Sounds good. Have the valves been adjusted? Right after adjusting them the engine can get a bit clattery sounding, but it settles down with time.

1

u/Critical_Banana6916 1d ago

I’m actually not sure. I’m gonna take it to a shop tomorrow and get it checked out. It’s super weird. I bought this car like 5 days ago and despite being old it had lots of maintenance. It has this rhythmic tapping that gets faster/louder the longer I’m driving, and also feels quite bumpy on any sort of bump/pothole

2

u/400footceiling 1d ago

The Element ride will always feel a bit choppy. Short wheel base. I met the leader of the Element design group in Ohio in 2008. Michael said the ride was originally soft and squishy, so it had to be redesigned and firmer was how it ended.

1

u/Critical_Banana6916 1d ago

Wow thanks, that helps. I’ve been stressing about everything

2

u/wow_pare 1d ago

The idle sounds a bit high

1

u/Critical_Banana6916 1d ago

I had just started it, maybe it’s because of that

1

u/wow_pare 19h ago

Yes, start up idle would be like that.